1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the sensors, and more particularly, to waveguide sensors capable of self-aligning with respect to one or more other waveguide sensors and/or receivers/transmitters.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, numerous sensors and sensory systems have been developed to detect and warn of the presence of chemical and biological agents, intruder detection and tracking and other similar purposes. Many of these sensors have found applications in safety, homeland security and other similar civilian and military areas. For sensors used in applications such as biological and chemical detection to be effectively used in the field, they have to be small and assembled in small packaging. The sensors must also require low power, be capable of remote operation, and must be capable of one or two-way communication with a central station or networked using some wireless technology. These are very challenging tasks and have been an area of very active research and development efforts, which has made a wide range of sensors available.
A challenging task in the development of wireless sensor capability is the development of appropriate means for alignment of sensors with each other and/or transmitters/receivers in a network of sensors. The alignment is necessary in order to maximize the transmitted/received signal. This is particularly the case for many of the homeland security applications in which the sensors cover a wide-network, such as a border or building. One method of alignment can be to place the sensors manually in an aligned fashion. However, such a method has many disadvantages, such as being inflexible to change with changing conditions. Furthermore, in some situations, such as a covert operation in a hostile territory, the sensors cannot be manually placed.
A need therefore exists for the development of sensors, in particular, waveguide sensors, having a self-aligning capability.